Scenic roads dip and rise through the region, past farmhouses huddling on hillsides and half-timbered towns with a rustic, fairy-tale-like prettiness.

BBC: The king of Kuchen in Black Forest, Germany

Endless photo opps in the little old villages with their half-timbered arcades, the Canal du Midi, and visit the 6th c.

FORBES: Connect

However, you can also look up from the half-timbered facades of "Tudorbethan" semis to see powering along the horizon a file of Le Corbusier-style multi-storey blocks.

BBC: A Point of View: Staring at the Shard

In Grossbasel, the Altstadt (Old Town) charms with its 15th- and 16th-century architecture, including many half-timbered houses, a common architectural style in the German-speaking areas (of both Switzerland and Germany) north of the Alps.

BBC: Undiscovered Basel

Zwiesel was charming half-timbered homes and hand-painted signs.

WSJ: Learning to Dog Sled in Bavaria, Germany